A little History
Sometimes I take the journey for granted. I get so focused on getting to the goal, or more accurately how far away the goal seems, that I forget sometimes but all the stuff I have learned, and loved and grown through on the journey itself. And so to remind me and you my friends and loved ones, here is a little synopsis of the journey.
I was never a skinny kid, at least I never felt skinny. And that continued up into my teens where I always wanted to lose weight but never really did anything about it. And then there were the college years. Oh I took PE courses (easy A's and we all know an A is an A), but I made up for it in cafeteria food, and still I knew I was overweight. I even joined gyms, but still I never seemed to lose weight. And then somewhere in the middle of my really long season of working the 4-midnight shift I started using the gym/rehab room at work after I got off. Just me and the treadmill and worlds dumbest criminals. It was actually a good time, and if I didn't have anything else going on in life I would totally work out at midnight still. But I still wasn't consistent.
Well one week, in February of 2010 I managed to work out 3 times in one week. Crazy huh. I was so excited about it posted it on Facebook. And the only comment I got on it was from my friend Kelly (I am so glad mom met Kelly all those years ago doing nursing prereqs) saying that all the adults in her family were gonna be walking a half marathon in June and that I should join them. I'm not sure if I had a seizure, a stroke, or was smoking something, but I said YES. Without even thinking about how a half marathon is 13.1 miles long, or how those three workouts were an oddity not a habit. But yes I said, And I even got my mom to join in. Well, then I realized that I needed to maybe figure out what the heck I had gotten myself into. I looked up training schedules for walking half marathons, found one I liked, and followed it. Meaning not only was a suddenly consistely walking, but each week the milage got higher. And what with Lent falling between when I started and the June date of the race I decided it was a smart idea that year to give up fast food for Lent. Now as a single person working evening shifts, this actually amounted to a lot of french fries I was no longer eating. And yet somehow during the 4 months of training I only managed to lose 4 pounds.
I knew at this point I was gonna need some help to lose weight. A few weeks before the half marathon I went to a doctor for the first time in years, there was some other stuff going on and for the sake of any male readers I might actually get I won't go into many more details, and he suggested that we do some blood tests to see if I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Blood drawn, sent out, off to do the race.
For the record, 13.1 miles is a long ways when you are walking. I finished in 3hrs 58 minutes and 47seconds. Not so bad for a first one. Except I was miserable the entire 2nd half of the race. If it wasn't for the fact that it was a country race and we were in the middle of nowhere at that point I might have quit along the way. But I finished it! And the next week exactly I took all the strength and courage it took to finish the race and I used it to walk into my first Weight Watchers meeting. And I loved weight watchers. It fit my life, I could still eat real food, I could still go out to eat, I could still cook and bake all my favorites. a couple weeks later, it's back to my doctors office cause yes, I do have PCOS and lets talk how we are gonna treat it. The first 6 months on Weight Watchers I lost 24 pounds, 10% of me at the time I signed up. Then it all slowed down. Like slugs are faster kinda slowed down.
For the last 2 years I have spent every 3-6 months back in the doctors office getting more labs tests done, seeing what improvement there might have been. And of course "the weight talk" has happened, a couple of times. It became a very long and frustrating 2 years as I only managed to make it to 32 pounds lost by my 2 year anniversary with Weight Watcher... 24 pounds the first 6 months, 8 pounds the next 18 months. It was time for a change.
Which is were Medifast comes into play. My last post I talked about 10 pounds in 10 days. And how I was really close to 50 pounds. Well...my 6 week total is 23 pounds, I have passed the 50 pounds. The end goal doesn't seem so far away and unattainable anymore. I am so excited to see how far I can go with this. I am even more excited though to know that I have recently been a catalyst to get others going. I can't wait to see their success.
But I know that this wouldn't feel this amazing without the struggles along the way. There was a point where I felt so stuck that I contemplated letting the weight all come back so that I could once again be heavy enough to qualify for weight loss surgery. But at the same time, this things I have learned on this journey have been amazing. The ability to not give up even when it's been long and tiring, the people I have motivated to take steps to make their lives healthier, the friends I have made along the way. Back in April I got hit with some stupid respiratory bug that would not leave me alone and I was so excited to discover that I was actually missing the gym. Yes, Olivia is a drill sergeant and her classes are torture but I was actually missing going.
The saying goes "It's not about the destination, it's about the journey". And it's true, but it's also false. It is so much about the journey, about the you that you discover. But without a destination in mind you wander aimlessly, if you even manage to get off the couch and start the journey.
So what is your "destination"?
I was never a skinny kid, at least I never felt skinny. And that continued up into my teens where I always wanted to lose weight but never really did anything about it. And then there were the college years. Oh I took PE courses (easy A's and we all know an A is an A), but I made up for it in cafeteria food, and still I knew I was overweight. I even joined gyms, but still I never seemed to lose weight. And then somewhere in the middle of my really long season of working the 4-midnight shift I started using the gym/rehab room at work after I got off. Just me and the treadmill and worlds dumbest criminals. It was actually a good time, and if I didn't have anything else going on in life I would totally work out at midnight still. But I still wasn't consistent.
Well one week, in February of 2010 I managed to work out 3 times in one week. Crazy huh. I was so excited about it posted it on Facebook. And the only comment I got on it was from my friend Kelly (I am so glad mom met Kelly all those years ago doing nursing prereqs) saying that all the adults in her family were gonna be walking a half marathon in June and that I should join them. I'm not sure if I had a seizure, a stroke, or was smoking something, but I said YES. Without even thinking about how a half marathon is 13.1 miles long, or how those three workouts were an oddity not a habit. But yes I said, And I even got my mom to join in. Well, then I realized that I needed to maybe figure out what the heck I had gotten myself into. I looked up training schedules for walking half marathons, found one I liked, and followed it. Meaning not only was a suddenly consistely walking, but each week the milage got higher. And what with Lent falling between when I started and the June date of the race I decided it was a smart idea that year to give up fast food for Lent. Now as a single person working evening shifts, this actually amounted to a lot of french fries I was no longer eating. And yet somehow during the 4 months of training I only managed to lose 4 pounds.
I knew at this point I was gonna need some help to lose weight. A few weeks before the half marathon I went to a doctor for the first time in years, there was some other stuff going on and for the sake of any male readers I might actually get I won't go into many more details, and he suggested that we do some blood tests to see if I have Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Blood drawn, sent out, off to do the race.
For the record, 13.1 miles is a long ways when you are walking. I finished in 3hrs 58 minutes and 47seconds. Not so bad for a first one. Except I was miserable the entire 2nd half of the race. If it wasn't for the fact that it was a country race and we were in the middle of nowhere at that point I might have quit along the way. But I finished it! And the next week exactly I took all the strength and courage it took to finish the race and I used it to walk into my first Weight Watchers meeting. And I loved weight watchers. It fit my life, I could still eat real food, I could still go out to eat, I could still cook and bake all my favorites. a couple weeks later, it's back to my doctors office cause yes, I do have PCOS and lets talk how we are gonna treat it. The first 6 months on Weight Watchers I lost 24 pounds, 10% of me at the time I signed up. Then it all slowed down. Like slugs are faster kinda slowed down.
For the last 2 years I have spent every 3-6 months back in the doctors office getting more labs tests done, seeing what improvement there might have been. And of course "the weight talk" has happened, a couple of times. It became a very long and frustrating 2 years as I only managed to make it to 32 pounds lost by my 2 year anniversary with Weight Watcher... 24 pounds the first 6 months, 8 pounds the next 18 months. It was time for a change.
Which is were Medifast comes into play. My last post I talked about 10 pounds in 10 days. And how I was really close to 50 pounds. Well...my 6 week total is 23 pounds, I have passed the 50 pounds. The end goal doesn't seem so far away and unattainable anymore. I am so excited to see how far I can go with this. I am even more excited though to know that I have recently been a catalyst to get others going. I can't wait to see their success.
But I know that this wouldn't feel this amazing without the struggles along the way. There was a point where I felt so stuck that I contemplated letting the weight all come back so that I could once again be heavy enough to qualify for weight loss surgery. But at the same time, this things I have learned on this journey have been amazing. The ability to not give up even when it's been long and tiring, the people I have motivated to take steps to make their lives healthier, the friends I have made along the way. Back in April I got hit with some stupid respiratory bug that would not leave me alone and I was so excited to discover that I was actually missing the gym. Yes, Olivia is a drill sergeant and her classes are torture but I was actually missing going.
The saying goes "It's not about the destination, it's about the journey". And it's true, but it's also false. It is so much about the journey, about the you that you discover. But without a destination in mind you wander aimlessly, if you even manage to get off the couch and start the journey.
So what is your "destination"?
wow… I'm so very proud of you and impressed with your stamina and courage. Way to go!!!! Loved reading your journey! THanks.
ReplyDeleteHopefully we'll see you in Oregon in just about one month!!
You had mentioned at some point that you didn't know my journey. So I thought I would write it for you. Plus it was good to get it all (to this point)written out.
Delete